Gordon Campbell on why Judith Collins should consider the Canada model
For months now, Judith Collins has been doubling down on National as the party of angry talkback radio. If you’ve got a beef about Jacinda […]
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Gordon Campbell on how Delta has changed the endgame for the pandemic
Lockdown vs Delta. Day by day, New Zealand is learning whether a Level Four lockdown can confine and eventually defeat the Delta variant. Yes, the […]
Gordon Campbell on “the old weird” music of America, with a playlist
Here’s some weird old music for the weird realities of lockdown. Like other key phases in popular music – jazz, country, rock’n’roll, punk, hip hop […]
Gordon Campbell on our polarised attitudes to the Covid response
Thesis meets antithesis again, this time in the pages of the New Zealand Herald. A week ago, Liam Dann wrote a column pondering how in […]
Gordon Campbell on the media’s handling of (a) the Afghan crisis, and (b) the hacked DHB material
Reportedly, there has been “chaos “in downtown Kabul and “chaos“ out at the Kabul airport. “Chaos” has become one of the go-to terms of modern […]
Gordon Campbell on the fall of Kabul
Like a giant Ponzi scheme, the 20 year experiment in nation-building in Afghanistan has come crashing down, in pieces. Since the US and its allies […]
Gordon Campbell on Labour’s cave-in to the business lobbies
At a time when New South Wales is in crisis over the Delta variant, it seems bizarre that our government is willing to risk heading […]
Gordon Campbell on how New Zealand is punching below its weight in Afghanistan
First Vietnam, now Afghanistan. For the second time in living memory, the West has been defeated by the guerrilla forces of a small Third World […]
Gordon Campbell on whether we’re punching above our weight, and should we care?
According to Pierre De Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, the Olympic ideal was not about “winning, but fighting well. Life is not conquering, […]
Gordon Campbell on populism’s changing of the guard, plus a soul music playlist
The weekend’s Newshub/Reid Research poll results – Act up to 11.1%, National up 1% but still sitting at only 28.7%, Labour down to 43%, the […]
Gordon Campbell on the supermarket scam, and on Tunisia’s scrapping of democracy
Are we paying too much for our groceries? Hmm. Is the Pope a Catholic? Given that the two Australian supermarket chains that dominate our grocery […]
Gordon Campbell on the uncanny valley of Tokyo 2020
For all involved, this year’s Olympic Games have called for a willing suspension of anxiety. For now at least, the displays of skill and agility […]
Gordon Campbell on the geo-political posturing over China’s cyber hacks, plus the weekly playlist
The timing was one of the weirder aspects of this week’s cyber condemnation of China by the West. Why was this piece of political theatre […]
Gordon Campbell on shifting to electric vehicles, and who killed Haiti’s President?
While the nation paused last Friday to share the existential horror of farmers and tradies maybe having to pay a little more in future for […]
Gordon Campbell on the whining vocal minority of farmers, plus the weekly playlist
Granted, working on the land can be a lonely job and the weather can be a bitch… But speaking in general, what have farmers got […]
Gordon Campbell on when National’s leaders had a more enlightened approach to gangs
One can sympathise with Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt and the lose/lose situation he has just found himself in. If he had stayed safe and […]
Gordon Campbell on the legacy of rockabilly, plus a playlist
Rockabilly was a 1950s precursor of punk. It was uptempo, aggressive, and shared with punk the same DIY “hell, I’ll give that a whirl” sense […]
Gordon Campbell on why the J&J vaccine isn’t an ideal back-up option, and Haiti
The news that Medsafe has given approval to Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine means the government is finally putting a backup plan in place, after the […]
Gordon Campbell on New Zealand’s lack of adequate cyber security defences
Remember how, back in the olden days, we had security concerns about the Chinese firm Huawei? Allegedly, Huawei was to be shunned as a business […]
Gordon Campbell on the hate speech panic, and the weekly playlist
So far, much of the fuss about the government’s proposed legislation on hate speech has focused on the state – the state ! – being […]
Gordon Campbell on why we should abolish the military
Last Friday, Defence Minister Peeni Henare announced his intention to seek savings within the circa $20 billion allocated to Defence over the next decade or […]
Gordon Campbell on the barriers facing female country musicians, and the weekly playlist
Like no other performer in popular culture, Dolly Parton is loved and respected by people from opposite ends of the political spectrum, and every point […]
Gordon Campbell on failing to prepare for either mental health needs, or Covid outbreaks
In a week when the Covid scare in Wellington and the national crisis in mental health both hit the headlines, they also seemed like mirror […]
Gordon Campbell on the Lancet’s stance against the Olympic Games, and on the US culture battles over abortion
Yesterday – barely a month before the opening ceremony – the Lancet medical journal has called for a global conversation on whether the Olympics should […]
Gordon Campbell on the America’s Cup, Critical Race Theory and a new, weekly music playlist
So… Why don’t they just cut to the chase, and call it the Emirates Cup? As this column predicted several months ago, the next America’s […]
Gordon Campbell On Britain’s Pathetic Trade Deal With Australia
So much for those assurances that New Zealand would be the first cab off the rank for any post -Brexit trade deal with the United […]
Gordon Campbell on the mosque movie, and the demise of Netanyahu
Plainly, a whole lot of New Zealanders – including PM Jacinda Ardern – are not on board with They Are Us, the mooted film project […]
Gordon Campbell on some after-thoughts about the Climate Change Commission report
The notion that New Zealand is pluckily – or foolishly – punching above its weight in the march towards carbon neutrality by the year 2050 […]
Gordon Campbell on the McLachlan interview, and the G-7 global corporate tax
TVNZ’s excuse for screening the Craig McLachlan interview last night was really flimsy. According to a TVNZ spokeswoman: “ It looks at his trial by […]
Gordon Campbell on the media’s hissy fit over Naomi Osaka
Last Sunday as we all now know, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open. She had felt that the compulsory after-match press […]